Journalist who saw names of alleged 'royal racists' says he had to delete story

30 November 2023 , 12:45

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Rick Evers said he published a story including the names of two people in Endgame and was asked to take it down (Image: Sky News)

A journalist who first spotted the names of the alleged 'royal racists' in a Dutch copy of Endgame has claimed he was ordered to delete his story within an hour of publishing it.

Rick Evers, a royal reporter in the Netherlands, saw the names of two royals in Omid Scobie's controversial book on the British monarchy just hours before it was pulled from shelves by the publisher. The urgent recall was issued over an apparent 'error' which appeared to identify two people that had discussed the possible colour of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son, Archie, before he was born.

He told Sky News that he first found the claims - which are not featured in the English language version - while flicking through his Dutch copy at midday on Tuesday. After writing a review of the Dutch book including the names, he told Sky News that he received a phone call at 1pm the same day, in which the publisher asked him to take down the article due to "legal problems" surrounding the book's release.

Omid Scobie's controversial book appeared to make allegations about two royals in its Dutch version (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

The claims are not featured in the English version of the book (Jonathan Buckmaster)

He said in an interview with the broadcaster: "Of course, I was very curious - what was it? They couldn't say it, because there were names mentioned. The only thing they had to say [was] that all of the books will be destroyed from the Dutch versions. So, there was something wrong."

He went on to say that he did not realise the Dutch version was different from other versions of the book sold around the world until after his story had been published - adding that he doubted Mr Scobie's explanation that a "mistranslation" had resulted in the names being included.

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Royal sources last night revealed “utter dismay” at the heart of the monarchy after the names of the alleged pair were shared on social media, trending on X for hours yesterday. The Mirror has chosen not to name the pair. Buckingham Palace is understood to be “considering all options”, including legal action.

When the Sussexes made their explosive allegations on Oprah in an interview broadcast around the world, they set in train a public debate about who in the royal family might harbour such racially charged views. In a multicultural modern Britain such allegations against the monarchy generated debate on a matter of such public importance with Scobie's new book claiming to add to that public debate.

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas